Red Dwarf Creator Reckons Porn Will be the Making of Oculus Rift

Sci-fi writer Rob Grant, like many of the great sci-fi writers before him, made a bit of a habit of predicting tech trends in his Red Dwarf series of books and telly programmes, from interactive watches to AR simulation machines.

But as Oculus VR at last looks to make Brett Riverboat ("Knife man") a reality, Grant thinks that, as ever, there's something more than gaming that will pioneer this new platform: porn.

"Once they get the haptics right, you will be able to have virtual sex," Grant tells Wareable. "It’s going to create lots of strange sorts of moral problems because you can literally have sex with anyone or anything.

"Oculus is making really great strides, it can change the world completely. The breakthrough will come when someone devises a program that replicates itself and can create a universe once you set it off. Then the algorithms will create places for you to go and people for you to interact with without having it all having to be pre-programmed. That will be the kind of game that launches the technology into another generation – well, either a great game like that, or porn."

The sex industry has often been the decider in platform success, from VHS to Blu-ray, so we can certainly see where he's coming from, though Oculus understandably hasn't exactly prioritised it in the funding stages.

In a fascinating interview full of techy tidbits, Grant also nails his flag to the Google Glass mast.

“We’re all going to be wearing Glass in 20 years – we absolutely are, whatever people say. I think it will mature a bit more and be a really interesting technology. It’s fascinating tech.

“The sad thing, of course, is the demise of the pub bore – the guy that used to come up with these bullshit facts. Now we just check it out on your smartphone and, soon, without having to lift a finger. It’s great.” [Wareable]